Intellectual giftedness in adult lifespan: just a dimensional account or are there areas especially sensitive to high potential?

The present study offers an adult lifespan perspective on the intellectual characteristics of 111 intellectually gifted individuals, drawn from a larger representative sample of 2173 individuals aged 16 to 90. We investigated five main indices of intelligence of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th Edition (Wechsler, 2008): Crystallized intelligence, Visual, Fluid reasoning, Short-term memory, and Speed. Our findings demonstrate that most characteristics of the intellectual profiles of gifted individuals can be predicted using a dimensional approach, thus viewing giftedness as the extreme tail of the population distribution. However, specificities exist and vary with age, becoming more pronounced with advancing years. Notably, we observed an increase in the standardized loadings of indices on the g factor with age, with speed (Gs) showing enhanced loading on g over time, consistent with general trends. Moreover, we identified a significant deviation in the visual elaboration factor (Gv) among gifted individuals, particularly evident from around the age of 50 onwards. • Intellectually gifted individuals are the upper end of a developmental continuum. • Cognitive profiles of gifted older adults reflect the structure of intelligence. • Dedifferentiation drives major changes in the profiles of gifted older adults.